SilverStone's Raven RV04 already has its successor in the works, barely four months after its launch. The first prototype of the Raven RV05 was shown to the Japanese press, who wasted no time in taking it apart. The RV05 is everything fans of the SilverStone Raven series wanted, be it a slick new design, or the classic rear-top oriented motherboard tray, which positions the I/O ports and add-on card connectors on the top, making them both accessible, and optimal for hot air venting.

To begin with, the Raven RV05 appears much smaller than the original Raven RV01, which the company mentions is significantly so, at 55 liters (volume), compared to 114 liters on the RV01. Yet the case supports most common PC motherboard types, including ATX, SSI-CEB, and micro-ATX. The company assures that most of the bigger motherboards, that are broader than ATX (eg: ASUS ROG Maximus V Extreme), should seat comfortably into its tray, despite the overall compact dimensions of the case. This is made possible because SilverStone chucked the 5.25-inch drive cage completely. There are seven expansion slot bays oriented on the top, alongside the top-oriented PSU bay.

Storage features include two each of 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drive bays, and a slimline optical drive bay. Cooling features include two large 180 mm bottom intake fans (included), which are shielded by a dust filter, a 120 mm top exhaust (included), and provision for a 120 mm rear exhaust. The two bottom fans can latch on to 280 x 140 mm radiators. Front panel connectivity includes a couple of USB 3.0 ports (standard header), and HDA front-panel audio jacks. SilverStone hasn't finalized the design, and didn't have any tentative launch window to give us. Does it look like SilverStone is making amends for the RV04? Tell us in the comments below.

Why is it every single new iteration of silverstone case simply makes the older generations look better and better? The only thing any of their cases have in common is the rotated motherboard and a decent set of fans.

It's a mix between RV01 (1x180mm fan) and RV02 (2x180mm fans), but also a better version because of RV01 and the first revisions of RV02 had generic 180mm fans, the RV05 have got probably the last version of AP180mm Air Penetrator fans (AP181 sleeved or AP182)

Silverstone is now officially dead for me. Just WTF is this shit? RV02 and to a lesser extent RV01 are miles ahead of this. Did they lose some designers after RV02/FT02 and then lose the rest of them after FT03?

I like the design and the idea of getting rid of the 5.25 drive slots. They're pointless for the majority of users. If you want a drive, either use a USB drive for those rare times when you need one OR use the slimline.

Now if they'd get on getting us some slimline slot BD drives that don't make me want a loan.